Heroes Of The Storm’s New Character Can Push You Across The Map With His Giant Arm

Another new character is on the way to Heroes of the Storm, and this time it’s Stukov, the zerg-infested human character who featured prominently in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. He’s a Support character with some unique mechanics, but what really sets him apart are his Heroic ability options.

One of Stukov’s distinguishing features is his giant, zerg-looking arm, and it features prominently into both of his Heroics. Flailing Swipe is relatively mundane, swiping in a large cone in front of him three times to deal damage and knock enemies away. Massive Shove, on the other hand, causes Stukov’s arm to fly out in a straight line, grabbing the first enemy Hero it hits and pushing them indefinitely. Only when the character hits a piece of terrain are they let go, which potentially allows you to push characters huge distances across the map. It’s a potentially massive advantage in a team fight, and it also has the added benefit of looking hilarious.

In terms of his standard abilities, they revolve around inflicting viruses on other players. Healing Pathogen heals teammates and can spread from one player to the next, provided they’re close enough. Weighted Pustule deals damage to enemies in a line, also inflicting them with a virus that deals additional damage and slows over time. Lurking Arm is channeled on a location and silences and does damage to enemies inside its area of effect. His trait, Bio-Kill Switch, detonates any active viruses, instantly healing or dealing damage to affected players.

Stukov has the makings of an interesting new type of Support character, but we should have a better idea of how he plays when he arrives on the PTR next week. A full release date hasn’t been announced yet, but it should follow soon after his run on the PTR.

Heroes of the Storm is in the midst of a summer-themed event called Sun’s Out, Guns Out. In addition to a special Brawl mode, event-specific Loot Chests are available that include limited-time cosmetic items and skins.